Visit Midlothian

In a refreshing venture designed to consolidate Midlothian's place on the tourist map, representatives of the area's top visitor attractions have been finding out more about what each other has to offer.

In all, 24 representatives from the Midlothian Tourism Forum climbed aboard a bus to go on a guided tour of some of the area's most important and not so important tourism sites. Included on the trip were stops at s Rosslyn Chapel, Newbattle Abbey, Vogrie Country Park and the Butterfly and Insect World at Dobbie's Garden Centre.

The ‘familiarisation' tour not only provided the participants with a rare opportunity to see each other's facilities, but also to experience them from a visitor's point of view.

As one of the 'day trippers' said later: "Although I know the area well, I realised I had not been to the Mining Museum and Butterfly World for five years! I also hadn't realised all that happens at Vogrie." The group stopped for a morning break at the Scottish Mining Museum - where Midlothian Council Provost Adam Montgomery dropped in for a chat.

The trip was organised by Midlothian Council in partnership with Midlothian Tourism Forum in response to the identified need for increased training opportunities for the tourism industry through the recent Midlothian Tourism Action Plan refresh.

The trip was designed to cover most of the area's towns and highlight tourism provision, accommodation, key amenities and the history of each one.

There was a broad mix of participants from the various tourist attractions, venues and accommodation providers in the area, including owners, managers, reception and housekeeping staff, guides, visitor centre staff and car park attendants. One said "It is useful for us as guides, as we get asked by a lot of visitors about what other things people can see and do in the local area." and another learned "that Midlothian has a wide variety of attractions that complement rather than compete with each other."